The Sunspire back of the room looking at you, counting the steps between us

She was tucked in a ball, her tiny body forming a C shape. Her chin was pressed to her chest and her black tail was curled toward her nose. Her forepaws were folded neatly. This is how she slept once she wormed herself between her siblings. She was most content when she was surrounded on all sides, and when her littermates were quiet and resting; as they were now. The peace was bound not to last long, but for now, the little girl squeaked softly and happily in her sleep, her paws and nose twitching as though she dreamt of running.

Nope, the peace didn't last long at all.

Breccan woke up from his nap with a huge yawn, his little lips smacking as he roused. He couldn't yet hear or see anything, but he did have one sense that worked quite well, and that was his sense of smell. His button nose wriggled as he pressed his muzzle into his mother's fur, sniffing thoughtfully. He wasn't hungry, he decided, so he turned and pushed his snout into the next nearest body, which belonged to Remi.

He snuffled at her loudly, snorting in a manner that was not unlike a piglet, as he examined her with his nose.

She unfurled from her ball, rolling over and clutching at her brother's snout with her tiny paws. Her toes wiggled against him as she gently pawed his face, and she gurgled some sort of amused and happy sound that was not unlike a giggle as he started snuffling and snorting against her. It tickled, and she squeaked a series of high pitched notes as she continued to paw at him, not with just her front paws, but with her back ones as well.

He stopped his sniffing briefly when he felt a pair of little paws clasp his snout. After only about two seconds, though, Breccan resumed his nasal exploration, now investigating Remi's toes carefully. Interestingly enough, he could feel the difference in texture between her fur and her paw pads, and it was this dissimilarity that prompted him to stick out his tongue and give her right front foot a lick.

His tongue against her soft pads elicited a particularly sharp squeak of surprise from her. She drew her paw back to her chest. If it at all seemed that she did not approve of her brother's lick, her wiggling tail said otherwise, and so did her paw as she stretched it back out toward him. She did this without thinking; her infantile mind was simply reacting to the stimulation.

One lick swiftly turned to two, but when Breccan's tongue flicked out the second time, it was briefly met with empty air. Remi had withdrawn her paw momentarily, and so Breccan settled for passing his tongue quickly over his own nose. A moment later, though, he became aware of the presence of her foot in front of his face again, and gave a little squeak of happiness.

He started to lick her toes again, tongue moving quickly in order to deliver as many kisses as possible before the paw could be taken away from him once more.

Infant laughter in the form of excited chirping and squeaking filled the den. It soon became a bit much for the little girl. Infants often tired quick and she was no exception. Remi loved her brothers kisses, but she scrambled forward and flopped herself on top of him. She shoved her beneath his ear and nuzzled in, squeaking soft notes as her paws hugged him.

Time to rest.

Breccan kept licking until Remi shifted again and removed the paw from his reach. She moved around and repositioned herself so that she was basically laying on him, which Breccan might have interpreted as an invitation for more play, but his sister's body grew still and she tucked her snout into the soft spot behind his ear. Her warm weight effectively made him feel sleepy, so he burrowed up underneath her with a happy sigh.